abrahamsen



Feb. 21, 1956 H, c. ABRAHAMSEN 2,735,351

ADJUSTABLE LOUVER VENTILATING GRILLE ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 18, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR HENRY C. ABRAHAMSE N AT TY Feb. 21, 1956 c, ABRAHAMSEN 2,735,351

ADJUSTABLE LOUVER VENTILATING GRILLE ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 18, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ll u *\/w 2h 1! I fv Y l8 I! r 1 I 3 I B I n I y 1 r W I K fly INVENTOR HENRY CABRAHAMSEN' Fudge ATTY- Feb. 21, 1956 H, c. ABRAHAM'SEN 2,735,351

ADJUSTABLE LOUVER VENTILATING GRILLE ASSEMBLY 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 18, 1952 INVENTOR HENRY C. ABRAHAMSEN AiT'Y United States Patent O ADJUSTABLE LOUVER VENTILATING GRILLE ASSEMBLY Henry C. Abrahamsen, Evansville, Ind., assignor to International Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application August 18, 1952, Serial No. 304,929 6 Claims. (Cl. 98-40) This invention relates to a ventilating grille assembly such as is frequently employed with air conditioning units and the like, but more specifically it is directed to an adjustable louvered structure fashioned with louvers that are fabricated from a suitable flexible material such as rubber or a plastic composition.

The use of louvered grille assemblies for controlling the flow of air or other gases whereby they may be directed, for instance, into certain regions of an enclosure such as a room, or for otherwise directing them into specific preselected directions such as at the exit of conduits or the like, is, of course, old in ventilating operations. Conventional arrangements for such ventilating grille structures may utilize louver-like blades or slats that are sta tionary and disposed with predetermined angular settings, or they may be provided with blades or slat-like louvers which are separately mounted on individual axes and arranged for angular adjustment with respect to the path of the gases flowing therethrough. However, the most satisfactory of the adjustable-louvered-type structures heretofore proposed were costly to fabricate because they involved a complicated separately mounted louver blade or fin type of design, while the less expensive variety incorporating a much flimsier louver blade construction frequently was found to be extremely noisy as a result of vibrations set up by the passage of air or other gas currents therethrough. Furthermore, because of the materials used and the designs employed, such assemblies were not readily adaptable to their surroundings and consequently they usually detracted from rather than enhanced the overall appearance or aesthetic effect of the structures with which they were associated. In addition the prior art structures were not as eflicient as they might be because of friction losses resulting from the sharp angle settings of the louvers which caused abrupt changes in direction of flow of the gases passing therethrough. It is a primary object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a simple, readily flexible, easily adaptable and inexpensive louvered assembly that is free of the objections heretofore noted and which, furthermore, is highly effective and efficient for controlling direction of flow of air or other gases passing therethrough.

Another object is to provide an adjustable louvered assembly wherein the louver blades thereof may be fabricated by molding or otherwise forming a flexible material such as rubber or a suitable plastic composition into any specific size and shape of blade desired.

A further object is to provide a grille assembly that is A fashioned as a unitary structure, and which is provided with louvers that are adjustable.

A still further object is to provide a grille assembly fashioned as a unit and having a set of horizontally as well as vertically disposed louvers either or both sets of which are adjustable for directing the flow of gases passing therethrough.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a grille assembly having a plurality of spaced louv-' ers that are fashioned as a unitary structure from a flexible material and which louvers are adjustable simultaneously as a unit for deflecting gases passing therearound. 7

Another important object is to provide a plurality of parallel aligned and spaced apart louvers fashioned as a unitary structure, the individual louvers of which are sufficiently flexible as to be temporarily deformable selectively into various positions for the purpose of directing gases passing therearound into preselected directions.

A still further important object is to provide a grille assembly having a plurality of parallel disposed and spaced apart louvers which are fixedly secured proximate one edge thereof and which are fashioned from material of sufficient flexibility to permit said louvers to be arcuately deformed by control means associated with the free ends thereof.

Another principal object is to provide a grille assembly having louvers therein that may be laterally deformed so as to present curved surfaces that are angularly disposed within a wide range of limits with respect to the path of the currents of air or other gases passing therethrough. e

Other objects and advantages will be understood and will become more apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a grille assembly having both horizontal and vertical louvers and shown with an actuating control mechanism for the vertical louvers, all in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, in enlarged dimension, taken on line 33 of Fig. l and showing the handle locking mechanism for the grille actuating bracket member;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view, similar to Fig. 2 but depicting only a portion of the louvers in the assembly, and showing in broken lines the position assumed by the the louvers upon being deformed by the actuating control mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view with a portion thereof broken away of a grille assembly fashioned with only one bank of louvers, depicted as vertical, and shown without the actuating control mechanism therefor;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view, similar to that of Fig. 1, of a grille assembly provided with a modified form of an actuating control mechanism;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view, similar to Fig. 4, that illustrates the modified control mechanism, and shows in broken lines the position assumed by the louvers upon being deformed by said modified actuating control; and

Fig. 8 is-an enlarged sectional detail, taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 6, of one of the interconnecting operating members in the modified actuating mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings it will be noted that one of the preferred embodiments selected for illustration comprises a unitary double bank grille assembly, represented generally by the numeral 10, which is best seen in Fig. 1. This grille includes a plurality of parallel vertically disposed and spaced apart fin-like louvers 11 and a similar bank or group of horizontally disposed louvers 12 which are formed as an integral unit. As shown in Fig. 1 the respective vertical and horizontal banks are formed with adjacent edges overlapping. Each fin or louver is shaped, preferably, to provide one longitudinally extending outer edge 13 that is relatively thin while the other or inner edge portion 14 is somewhat thicker thus providing a cross-section that resembles an elongated wedge. The thickened edge portion of each louver is formed with a transverse rib-like flange or foot- Patentecl Feb. 21, 1956 ing 15 which may function as a reinforcing and interlocking member extending through the vicinity of the overlap area of said horizontal and vertical members. Said double bank grille, preferably, is fabricated as by molding in a single structure and is fashioned from a suitable flexible material such as rubber or the like, or from one of the plastic compositions such as polyethylene, vinyl chloride or melamine. It will be understood, however, that any reasonably flexible and readily deformable material that is capable of being fashioned as by molding or the like into the proposed grille may be suitable; hence the fabrication thereof need not be limited to the specific materials suggested herein.

The proposed louvered. grille is adapted for positioning Within a frame-like casing or housing 16 which, in turn, is arranged to encompass or surround an opening through which the air or other gases being controlled must pass. Such a casing or housing may be any suitable structure and, as illustrated, includes a pair of opposite side walls 17 and 18 joined together by a top wall 19 and a bottom wall 20. Said casing, in turn, may be connected through suitable duct means or it may be connected directly with the ventilating device with which the louvered assembly is to be associated, none of which is shown as the specific arrangement thereof is not pertinent to the present invention. Suffice it to say, however, that the louvered grille assembly may be snugly fitted into the casing or frame and be held therein by suitable conventional afiixing means.

If desired, of course, the proposed grille assembly may be fabricated as a single bank in lieu of the double bank described above. In the single bank assembly, illustrated in Fig. 5, only one set or group of louvers 11 is utilized and, in the embodiment depicted herein, the fin-like louvers are disposed in vertical planes but it will be appreciated the louvers may readily be used or disposed in horizontal planes as well without deviating from the concept of the present invention. The louvers 11 in said single bank grille may be supported and maintained in parallel spaced relation by a plurality of web members 21, each of which is fashioned, preferably, with an air foil or streamlined cross-section that is designed to offer a minimum of resistance to the flow of air or other gases therearound. Said web members 21 are longitudinally spaced throughout the length of the louvers 11 and are fashioned, preferably, from the same material as that of the louvers and formed integral therewith so as to provide a unitary louvered structure that is relatively simple to fabricate but still is very compact and rugged. Although the fin-like louvers have been illustrated in this instance without the rib-like flanges along the inner edge thereof it will be understood such omission does not constitute a limitation on the use thereof.

In order to control the currents of air or other gases passing through either of the proposed grilles and direct them into specific paths or into selected regions of an enclosure adjacent the exit thereof the individual louvers are deformed by bending along their longitudinal axes. In this way the surface of each louver is formed into a substantially arcuately curved member, as best seen in the broken lines of Fig. 4, with the transversely curved surface thereof arcuately disposed across the path of the gas currents. As the currents strike these arcuately curved surfaces the direction thereof will be altered as the gases will tend to follow the contour of said curve and thus said currents will be discharged into the regions of said enclosure as determined by the amount or degree of said curvature.

While various actuating means may be employed for simultaneously bending or deforming all the individual louvers in a group or bank a preferred arrangement is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. In this actuating means there is provided a fin engaging or actuating frame or bracket, indicated generally by the reference character 22, which includes three longitudinally extending barlike members 23, 24 and 25 connected at their opposite ends to transverse bars 26 and 27. A hinge 28, fashioned as a bar member 29 extending from the actuating frame or bracket 22, is pivotally connected by a pin 30 to a link 31, in turn, pivotally mounted on a bracket 32 fixedly secured to the casing frame 16, with both pivotal connections being of the lost-motion type to permit limited vertical displacement of said actuating bracket as it is horizontally moved. A similar hinge 33 on the opposite end of said actuating bracket includes a bar member 34 pivotally connected by a pin 35 to a link 36, in turn, pivotally mounted on bracket 37 fixedly secured to the casing frame 16 with both pivotal connections thereof providing a limited amount of lost-motion therein.

Adiacent the latter hinge 33 there is provided a handle 38 mounted on a shaft or rod 39, in turn, secured to the actuating frame 22. If desired said handle may be affixed by screw thread means 40 to the shaft 39 while said shaft may be affixed by any suitable conventional means to said actuating bracket. The handle shaft 39 is positioned so as to pass through a slotted opening 41 in a retainer bracket 42 that, in turn, is suitably atfixed to said casing frame. The slotted opening 41 has one edge thereof notched with a plurality of notch-like recesses 43 to provide a retainer-like locking means for selected positions of said handle shaft as will presently be explained. An additional slot 44 in the retainer bracket 42 is provided to accommodate the link and bracket elements of the hinge 33 as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

Each of the longitudinally extending bars 23, 24 and 25 of said actuating bracket is provided with a plurality of V-shaped notches or recesses 45 that register with and engage in a slightly overlapping relationship the thin outer edge 13 of each of the louvers 11. The respective recesses in adjacent bars are disposed in vertical alignment so that one edge of each louver simultaneously engages or fits into a recess in each of the three longitudinal bars forming the actuating bracket 22.

While the actuating means described has been illustrated as utilized only with the vertically disposed bank of louvers, in an assembly containing both vertically and horizontally disposed banks of louvers, it will readily be appreciated that the same type of mechanism may also be installed for operating the horizontally disposed louvers but for purposes of simplification of the drawings it has not been shown as so applied. It will also be understood that the application of the actuating mechanism is not limited to any specific bank of louvers but may be applied to the horizontal as well as to the vertical banks so that both banks may be actuated simultaneously.

In the operation of the device, movement of the handle 38 to the right or left, carries with it the actuating bracket 22 which, through its louver engaging notches 45, tends to move the louvers in the same direction, but because the opposite ends of the louvers are firmly anchored by the interlocking footings 15, and since they are flexible they will be deformed by bending, thus providing an arcuately curved surface therein for the air or gas currents to impinge against. When the handle is moved to the right the currents will be diverted in a gracefully curved path to the .right, and vice versa when the handle is moved to the left. When the desired degree of diversion of the currents is obtained the lost motion of the hinges permits the handle shaft 39 to be inserted into the nearest notch 43 in the retainer bracket 42 whence it will function to firmly hold the louvers in their deformed position. Upon removal of the handle shaft from said notchthe resiliency of the louvers will efiectuate their return to a normal or flattened surface.

In Figs. 6, 7 and 8 there is illustrated an adjustable louver assembly wherein-a modified mechanism has been employed for actuating or deforming the louver blades- In this structure like elements have been represented with the same reference characters heretofore designated for comparable elements in the description of the other preferred embodiment. A unitary double bank grille assembly includes a plurality of vertically disposed louvers 11 and a similar bank or group of horizontally disposed louvers 12, and each louver blade has a thin outer edge 13, and a thicker inner edge portion 14 which is formed with a rib-like flange or footing 15. The double bank louvered grille is adapted for positioning within a frame-like casing or housing 16 which includes a pair of side walls 17 and 18 joined together at the top by a wall 19 and at the bottom by a wall 20.

A plurality of horizontally extending and vertically spaced rods or bars 46, 47 and 48 interlock the thin outer edges of the louver blades 11 so that all blades operate simultaneously. Said rods or bars are accommodated in a plurality of openings 49 vertically spaced proximate the thin outer edge portion 13 of each louver blade. Each such opening includes a plate-like abutting or guide member 50 that is aflixed, preferably by imbedding, in the louver blade or slat and an opening 51 therein slidably receives said rods. On both sides of each opening 49 said rods are provided with an upset or raised abutting portion 52 that is dimensioned to control the longitudinal movement of said rods through these openings. A control or actuating plate-like member 53 is mounted on the face of the end louver 11 and affixed thereto by any suitable means such as the rivets 54. The inner marginal edge of said plate is rolled over to provide a longitudinally extending hinge-like keeper 55 into which is fixedly secured a pintle pin 56. Said pin is pivotally mounted in the top and bottom walls 19 and 20, respectively, of the frame casing 16 and is fixedly secured within the keeper 55 by the pins 57. A notched indicator plate 58, which is suitably secured to the pintle pin 56 proximate the upper end thereof, engages a spring loaded pawl 59 affixed by bracket member 60 to the casing 16. The spring 61 functions to keep the pawl in frictional engagement with one of the notches in said indicator plate. A handle 62 suitably aflixed to the end of the pintle pin 56 provides a means to facilitates manually rotating said pin. In operation, as the handle 62 is rotated to the right or left the louvers 11 will likewise be deformed to provide slightly concavely curved surfaces against which the gases impinge before being directed into preselected directions.

It should now be apparent that a novel adjustable louver grille assembly has been shown and described, and it is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A louvered assembly for deflecting gases and the like into a specific locality, comprising: an open ended casing; a plurality of parallel spaced apart fins fashioned of a plastic material and positioned within said casing and disposed across an opening therethrough; said fins being connected together by integrally fashioned connecting members of plastic material and disposed proximate an edge portion of the fins; means for deforming said fins along the transverse axes of each whereby gas currents and the like flowing through the casing are deflected into a specific locality, including a fin deforming member adapted for engaging an edge portion of each of said fins, and operable upon movement therewith for simultaneously deforming all the fins, hinging mechanism disposed at opposite ends of said fin deforming member for pivotally connecting through lost-motion connections respective ends of said member to proximate walls of said casing, a notched bracket afiixed to one wall of said casing, and an operating handle aflixed to said fin deforming member and operative to engage the notches in said bracket in a lockable relation for retaining said fins in any one of a number of deformed positions.

2. A louvered construction for deflecting gases and the like into a specific locality, comprising: an open ended casing; a first group of louvers including a plurality of parallel spaced-apart fin-like members having an integrally fashioned laterally projecting flange along one edge of each member and being positioned within said casing and disposed across an opening therethrough; a second group of louvers including a plurality of parallel spaced apart fin-like members having an integrally fashioned laterally projecting flange along one edge of each member and being angularly positioned with respect to the first group; said two groups being formed of a deformable plastic material and integrally fashioned and rigidly joined proximate respective flanged edge portions thereof; and means for simultaneously deforming and retaining all the fins of at least one group deformed in any one of a number of deformed positions along the transverse axes of each whereby gas currents and the like flowing through the said casing are deflected into specific localities.

3. A unitary louvered structure, comprising: a plurality of parallel spaced-apart longitudinally extending fins fashioned from a flexible plastic material; said fins being wedge-shaped in cross-section, and having one thin and one thick edge extending longitudinally thereof; a plurality of spaced-apart connecting members normally positioned with respect to said fins and disposed proximate one edge portion of said fins; said connecting members being fashioned integral with said fins and having each of said members rigidly connected to and anchored in the thick edge portion of each of said fins; and means for simultaneously deforming all of said fins along the transverse axes of each whereby gas currents and the like impinging thereagainst may be deflected in a preselected direction.

4. A unitary louvered structure comprising: a first group of parallel spaced-apart slat-like members fashioned from a flexible plastic material and being deformable along the transverse axes of each; a second group of parallel spaced-apart slat-like members fashioned from a flexible plastic material and being deformable along the transverse axes of each; said two groups being normally positioned with respect to one another, and disposed so that one edge portion of the members of the first group overlaps a proximate edge portion of the members of the second group; said two groups being integrally fashioned, and having each of the members of the first group rigidly connected to and anchored in each of the members of the second group; and means for simultaneously deforming and retaining all of said members deformed in any one of a number of deformed positions along the transverse axes of each member in at least one of said two groups whereby gas currents and the like impinging thereagainst may be deflected into a preselected direction.

5. A louvered assembly for deflecting gases and the like into a specific locality, comprising: an open ended casing; a first group of parallel spaced-apart louver members fashioned of a flexible plastic material and being deformable along the transverse axes of each louver therein; a second group of parallel spaced-apart louver members fashioned of a flexible plastic material and being deformable along the transverse axes of each louver therein; said first and second groups being positioned with the edges of one group normally disposed with respect to the edges of the other group, and having edge portions of one group overlapping respective edge portions of the other group with both of said groups positioned within said casing and across an opening therethrough; said two groups being integrally fashioned, and having each of the louvers of the first group rigidly and permanently connected to and anchored in each of the louvers in the second group; and means for simultaneously deforming the louvers in one group along the transverse axes of each louver therein independently of the louvers in the other group whereby gas currents flowing through the casing are deflected into a specific locality.

6. A louvered assembly for deflecting gases and. the like into a specific locality, comprising: an open ended casing; a plurality of parallel spaced-apart fins fashioned of plastic material and positioned within said casing and disposed across an opening therethrough; said fins being rigidly connected together by integrally fashioned connecting members of plastic material disposed proximate an edge portion of the fins; means for deforming said fins along the transverse axes of each whereby gas currents and the like flowing through the casing are deflected into a specific locality including, a fin deforming member fashioned to engage an end portion of said fins and operable for movement therewith to simultaneously deform all the fins, an actuating member having an actuating handle and being pivotally mounted in opposite walls of said casing and connected to one of said fins for move ment therewith, a notched locking member fixedly secured to said actuating member and adapted for rotation therewith, a spring-biased pawl member affixed to said casing, and having said notched member adapted to receive in cooperating relation said spring-biased pawl member to retain said fins in any one of a number of deformed positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,052,812 Garland Feb. 11, 1913 1,547,974 Thaw July 28, 1925 1,601,815 Feinberg et a1 Oct. 5, 1926 1,793,295 Werme Feb. 17, 1931 1,931,356 Porter Oct. 17, 1933 2,358,318 Daugherty Sept. 19, 1944 2,413,118 Spieth Dec. 24, 1946 

